Frankly, the argument is weak and it's an argument from people hellbent on having no other play style other than killing everything that moves. That is not, nor was it ever what UO was about. I personally don't PVP anymore and rarely PVM. I'm a merchant here. Why? Because it's how I find my enjoyment. How I play has no bearing on how you play. This is how T2A was as well. Unfortunately, people who weren't there fail to understand there is more to the game than PVP.
That being said, I love that this shard has so much going on. Every few hours, a gate opens for an event. When I get to the point where I can, I will participate in them as well... at least some of the group ones since I have no interest in 1vs1 or tourney style PVP.
As far as the lack of field players during the events? Try looking a little harder. Not everyone goes to events. I see plenty of people out and about during them. Maybe they aren't all PVPers, but they are still targets. Maybe if people did a little less whining and a little more looking for each other, there wouldn't be an issue. Considering there are quite a few of you whining about this topic, it should be a non-issue because you should be busy hacking and slashing each other to pieces while events are going on.

Don't like the events, don't join em. The rest of us don't have an issue with them.